Automaker Honda recently announced plans to pay U.S. Honda and Acura dealerships special compensation for sales problems caused by Takata airbags. Honda stopped the sale of approximately 1.7 million of its cars last January in an effort to prevent further injuries and deaths related to the dangerously defective Takata airbags included in these vehicles. However, the stop on sales caused dealerships to suffer tremendous financial losses.
Not only were dealerships stopped from selling new Honda vehicles, but they were also stopped from selling used vehicles, forced to re-design their showrooms and suffered other setbacks, which significantly hindered their profit-making capacities. Vehicle model years affected ranged from 2007 through 2015.
Fortunately for affected dealerships, the reimbursement process will be initiated at the end of March. That said, Honda has yet to finalize how it will be processing claims, and it hasn’t revealed exact details on how much it plans to compensate the dealerships.
It is good to see car manufacturers being proactive to correct dangerous and potentially life-threatening defects. In this case, Takata airbags have been included in millions of automobiles from many different automakers. The airbags included in the Honda recalls have defective inflators that could explode and kill drivers and passengers. Indeed, this has already occurred on numerous occasions worldwide and resulted in many deaths.
However, automobile manufacturer efforts to correct the problem with Takata airbags will not absolve them of financial responsibility and liability when it comes to drivers and passengers who were injured and killed by these airbags. Therefore, Connecticut residents who were mysteriously injured — or whose relatives were mysteriously killed — in a car accident that involved a deployed airbag may wish to investigate whether or not a defective airbag was the cause of their injuries or their loved one’s death.
Source: Reuters, “Honda to compensate U.S. dealers for losses over air bag recalls: Automotive News,” Chang-Ran Kim, March 10, 2016